Experiencing Swami Desika - 67

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SrI:

Shrimate Shri Lakshmi Nrusimha Parabrahmane Namaha:

Shrimate Shri Seetha Ramachandra Parabrahmane Namaha:

Shrimate Shri Ramanujaya Namaha:

Shrimate Nigamantha Maha Desikaya Namaha:

Shrimate Shrivan Satagopa Shri Narayana Yateendra Mahadesikaya Namaha:

 

" SrimAn VenaktanAthArya: kavithArkika kEsarI!

VedAnthAchArya varyO mE sannidhatthAM sadhA hrudhi " !!

 

After Swami Desika's realisation of Garuda and Hayagriva in

Thiruvahindra puram, Swami stayed there for a decade and then

proceeded to TirukkOilur, the shrine sanctified by the visit

of the mudal alvars. We all know the unique anubavam of

the mudal alvars, where they had the greatest opportunity of

having had the Lord with them listening to their paasurams.

dEhali is the corridor of a house which immediately

adjoins the front door and leads to the inner apartments.

In tamil it is known as 'rEzhi'. Our Lord associated himself

with the mudal alvars in the dEhali and is hence addressed

as dEhaleesa means the Lord of dEhali.

 

dEhaleesa PerumAL is none other than Lord Trivikrama. But

what distinguishes this Lord from others is his exploits in a

small dEhali of TirukkOilur which has resulted in the advent

of Divya Prabandham to us.

 

The First three alvars are designed as mudal alvars. In the

same way the three prabandams that they sang should also be

understood and enjoyed as one unit. This is evident from the

very first verse of each of them taken together.

 

Shri D. Ramaswamy Ayyangar explains it thus:

 

" vaiyam tagaliyA " paasuram deals with Prakriti or Achetana

tattva, " anbEtagaliyA " with chetana or individual soul (which is

jnana by nature) and " thirukaNdEn " verse with the Paramachetana or

the Lord. Tattvatraya is thus depicted.

 

Similarly Tattva, Hita and Purushartha as also Parabhakti, Parajnana

and Paramabhakti and such like triple sets are all derivable

from the 3 anthadis which can be referred to as vaiyanDhadi,

anbandAdhi and thiruvandAdhi respectively with reference to the

first word in each.

 

" satkurvatAm tava padam caturAnanatvam

pAdOdakam ca shirasA vahatAm shivatvam !

yEkatravikramaNa karmaNi tat dvayam tE

dEhalyadEsha yugapat prathitam pruthivyAm !! "

 

-- dEhaleesa stuti (12)

 

Swami Desika states that only in the TrivikramAvatARam, the

Lord demonstrated his supremacy beyond controversies.

When the Lords uplifted foot reached the satyalOka, the

four faced Brahma worshipped Lords foot by offering argyam,

pAdhyam etc. This pAdhyam, offered respectfully to wash the

Lord's foot flowed as Ganga. This was inturn received by

Siva on his head.

 

In nAnmugan TiruvandAdi, Tirumazhisai Alvar expresses

similar points.

 

" kurai kondu nANmugan kundigai nIr paidhu

marai konda mandirattatAl vAzhtti - surai konda

sundattAn seni mElErakkazhuvinAn

aNdattAn sEvadiyaiyAngu. "

 

Tirumazhisai Alvar explains that he who worshipped the foot

of our Lord is Brahma and he who received that paadyam

on his head is Siva.

 

From this it is clear that " chaturAnanatvam " and " Sivatvam "

as used by our Swami are earned by washing our Lord's foot

and receiving the water on the head respectively.

 

There is pun in the words " charAnana " and " Siva " .

In addition to positions like Brahma and Siva, the Capacity for

clever speech and auspiciousness can also be acquired by washing the

feet and receiving that water on the Head.

 

The Lord is addressed as dEhalyadheesa by Swami Desika. Swami

states that the Lord who was once a Trivikrama of cosmic proportions

now reveals in confining himself to a small dEhali. Our Lords

sowlabyam is evident here. Our Lord being a bhakta vatsalan

comes down to any extent for the sake of his devotees.

 

The Lord was proud to associate himself with the mudal alvars and to

assume the name dEhaleesa (the lord in the narrow passage).

 

Swami Desika has sung the dEhaleesa stuti in praise of the Lord

where in he portrays the Lord as a Sugarcane. The three Alvars

are pictured as the instrument to crush the sugarcane and the

resultant juice is the three noorandhAdhi's. The essence of these

three noorandhAdhi's is the sweet sugar-candy, namely dEhaleesa!!!

 

" Kavi Taarkika Simhaaya Kalyaana guna SaalinE!

SrimatE VenkateshAya VedAnta Gurave nama !! "

 

....To be continued!

 

 

dEsikan tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

 

Praveena nAmni Ramanuja dasi

11th Aug 1999